COVID-19 patient in Kerala taken to hospital on bike, probe ordered
Move follows airing of video clip showing patient on bike sandwiched between two people
Thiruvananthapuram: Authorities in Kerala on Friday ordered a probe after a video clip showing a COVID-19 patient sandwiched between two people in PPE kits being taken to hospital from a domiciliary COVID-19 care centre on a two-wheeler was aired on TV channels.
The incident occurred on Friday morning at the Punnapara domiciliary COVID-19 care centre in Alappuzha.
Alappuzha district collector A. Alexander said he has ordered a probe into this incident and “such a thing should have definitely not occurred”.
Alappuzha district medical officer L. Anithakumari said this particular domiciliary centre is meant for people who test COVID-19 positive but have no proper facilities required during the quarantine period, at their home.
“This is a centre which is managed by the local village council and doctors are only on call. This centre gets help from COVID-19 volunteers. The truth of the matter is none of us were informed... we did not even know about this incident. When I saw it on TV channels, I found out what happened,” said Anithakumari.
Officials have been told that the patient was taken to hospital on a two-wheeler as the ambulance driver was unavailable for a while.
Meanwhile, it has been learnt that the condition of the patient who was moved to the General Hospital in Alappuzha is stable.